Controlled Intensive Grazing For Livestock

by Hubert Earle

Dire forecasts continue to cloud the future of livestock
farming. For dairy farmers there are further quota reductions and
the need for capital to buy more quota to maintain and improve
income. Other livestock farms face escalating fixed and
production costs, the threat of the impending GATT and other
international trade agreements. Still the advice from some
agribusiness sectors centres on the over-worked philosophy that
bigger is better and that great efficiency is needed to compete
in today's markets. Perhaps it's time to explore a new paradigm
for our livestock industry.

Imagine a program that could greatly reduce your present costs
of production, eliminate the necessity of owning expensive
machinery, reduce capital required for building expansion,
enhance the virtues of ecological and conservational farming,
appease the major concerns of animal activists and at the same
time return greatly improved profits to the farmer. Sound too
good to be true? Let me assure that it is possible and all that
is required is an openness of mind, and entrepreneurial spirit
and the desire to create change.

Consider the scenario of managed (controlled) grazing. The
technique developed by Andre/Voisin is now in practice throughout
much of New Zealand, Ireland, many parts of Europe and the United
States. This technique, although very practical, must

be intensely managed to be profitable and can most certainly
be adapted for our climate. Already some Western and Ontario beef
producers have begun to make the transition to controlled
intensive grazing. The bottom line in any commercial enterprise
must be a desire for an improved income. Combine this with the
desire to have more family and leisure time and you have a goals
that would fit well with most farm families.

How Is It Different?

How is controlled intensive grazing different from the present
day norm of pasturing? First, consider yourself as a grazier
(grass farmer)--not a dairy, beef, sheep or hog farmer. Secondly,
familiarize yourself with the methods to extend the grazing time
by: Allocating fresh paddocks daily, stockpiling pastures for
late fall, winter and spring grazing, growing supplemental forage
crops for grazing in the traditional, non-productive stages of
forage growth. On top of this think about adopting cost-saving
procedures such as frost seeding and over-seeding to rejuvenate
older pasture cells.

Grazing can also either reduce or eliminate the need for
expensive protein supplements, grain or corn silage. The final
link is to install dependable, high tension electric fences,
provide fresh water in either the paddocks or central lanes and
determine how to efficiently utilize the growth patterns of
forage for maximum yield and profit. All this should result in a
dramatic improvement in both income and life-style. Add to this
the noticeable improvement in animal health and performance and
you have the ingredients for a very successful enterprise.

In summary ask yourself these questions: Do I wish to continue
farming as I am at present--harvesting 75-90% of all livestock
feed requirements with expensive machinery and then carrying it
the livestock, or, do I want to become a Brazier and use my
livestock to harvest the bulk of their feed by means of an
extended and managed grazing season leading to improved
profitability?

I will follow this article with other ones in future
newsletters to cover such topics as paddock and cell development,
stocking density, minimum and maximum grazing heights
recommendations, the importance of calcium, testing forages for
minerals rather than the soil, leader-follow grazing, and set
stocking. If there is enough interest we could run a workshop.
For more information you could call me at 613-924-2052 or write
to me - Hubert Earle, R.R.2 Addison Ont. KOE lA0 or Ted Zettel,
519-366-9982 R.R.1 Chepstow Ont. NOG lK0.